From Dallas Morning News (free w/registration; try BugMeNot.com for usable registration):

"Free hotline to help avoid foreclosures"

That's right. The city of Dallas, plus a few lenders and a nonprofit agency, got together over dinner and a movie and decided to set up a hotline. Thanks to them, distressed Metroplex homeowners can now call for assistance and counseling regarding any impending foreclosure. I found this bit rather interesting:

In addition, local housing values have not appreciated enough to give people enough equity in their homes to help cushion the blow if they lose their jobs, said the city's housing director, Jerry Killingsworth.

I haven't been around Dallas in probably 2 or 3 years. But the last time I was there, the suburbs were absolutely on fire with high-dollar (in my world) new residential additions being built. Gated communities were springing up everywhere you looked. So does this mean that lots of Dallas folks were great at buying their McMansions and Expeditions, but didn't actually save any REAL money for emergencies? Man. I hate when that happens.

Come to think of it: All this sort of poses an obstacle for this guy's hypothesis, doesn't it?

Dallas residents can receive free foreclosure prevention counseling 24 hours a day, seven days a week ...

Great. Now how about opening up a hotline to educate people BEFOREHAND on the risks and responsibilities of debt, homeownership, and — perhaps most of all — not being overconfident?